BOOK REVIEW GARDENING IN THE DIRT NEWS

The Brother Gardeners
BOTANY, EMPIRE
AND
THE BIRTH OF AN OBSESSION
BY
Andrea Wulf
Alfred A. Knoff , New York 2009

On an early summer's day 1n 1716, Thomas Fairchild went into his Hoxton garden, closed the door of his potting shed and set in motion a chain of events so momentous that in time no gardener would ever think about plants in the same way again. At the same time, it let Fairchild, a devout Christian, to live in fear of God's wrath for the rest of his life.

That is the first paragraph of this wonderful book, with excellent illustrations, bibliography and references. If you are a native from one of those countries originally under the British Empire, even if you are not, you will have great reading pleasure.

Another requirement to enjoy it, is some interest in history, botany, botanical names,
plant collecting and so forth...Evidently, England has done a lot for gardening. This activity is what I do and enjoy more in life. If you want to go beyond the surface, your
intellect will appreciate it.



SOME FANS may wonder how much time I spend in the garden. Well, I sweep daily,

sometimes twice a day, daily, monitor for insects, watch everything carefully to
see any odd events, with Diva, the Cyperus lover dog, this is alternated with ball games, throw and fetch kind. Even in her senior years, Diva keeps that joy and quick
energy, present in many happy children, when the time to play comes. Determine which garden activity has to be done right away or later.. Out of the seven days I spent, twenty hours between this and that on the premises. A little less if it rains...

The eradication of Bejuco de puerco and Wedelia trilobata in the south garden, is almost complete and the area looks more tidy. It was done in three stages to avoid that anxiety that once in a while arrives suddenly when getting into tedious, unpleasant tasks. This is one of them. Getting rid of vines behaving like grass with rhizomes/stolons, a real pain.

Other events more or less interesting were traditional relocation from one bed
to a better one, pot to bed or vice versa.. A Bauhinia blakeana has taken the place,
pot and corner of the now in Guerrilla Territory, Thevetia peruviana. By the way
I went to check it finding it on the ground. It was too heavy on top, plus the ground somewhat saturated..Got rid of some branches, looking sharp, and is now with the Tamarindus indica close by, the Maguey and the DK, in the chosen triangular space.

The forgotten Crotton slow as nothing else is now in a new spot, 3 species of Tradescantias were propagated to substitute the eradicated ones, the Bauhinia
tomentosa is now in a new pot looking refreshed. Clitoria ternatea, Merremia
quinquefolia were planted from seeds to increase the vegetation volume in the metal fence in the north garden.

Some white flies were discovered in the Murrayas paniculatas. It is a problem that
comes and goes. They were sprayed and that was that. In general there are not many
pests in the garden. The amount of lizards, birds, spiders take care of them.. Once in
a while snails come, so do beetles, but it is not a great concern because the damage
is mostly aesthetic.

Finally, collected seeds from the Cosmos sulphereous to spread them by the Guerrilla Territory. And that is that, time to go....